Privacy Policy

At iLoveSudoku, accessible from https://ilovesudoku.net (and all related subdomains, services, or mirrors, collectively referred to as "iLoveSudoku", "we", "us", or "our"), one of our main priorities is the privacy of our visitors. This Privacy Policy document outlines the types of information that is collected and recorded by iLoveSudoku and how we use, safeguard, and disclose it.

If you have additional questions or require more information about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact our data protection team through our Contact Page or via email at privacy@ilovesudoku.net.

1. Scope & Consent

This Privacy Policy applies exclusively to our online activities and is valid for visitors to our website with regards to the information that they share and/or collect in iLoveSudoku. This policy is not applicable to any information collected offline or via channels other than this website.

By accessing or using iLoveSudoku, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its terms in full. If you do not agree with any provision of this Privacy Policy, please discontinue using our website immediately.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in two primary ways: information you directly provide to us, and information automatically collected through standard internet technologies and third-party advertising partners.

A. Information You Voluntarily Provide

iLoveSudoku does not require user registration or account creation to enjoy full access to all puzzle difficulties, solver utilities, printing features, or daily challenges. However, if you contact us directly via our support forms or email addresses, we may receive personal information including:

• Your full or display name
• Your contact email address
• The subject matter, content of the message, and any attachments you choose to transmit to us
• Any other diagnostic or bug report information you voluntarily provide

B. Automatically Collected Data (Log Files)

iLoveSudoku follows a standard procedure of utilizing log files. These files log visitors when they visit websites. All hosting providers execute this as part of hosting service analytics. The information collected by log files includes:

• Internet Protocol (IP) addresses
• Browser type and version
• Operating system and device environment
• Internet Service Provider (ISP)
• Date and time stamp of each visit
• Referring/exit pages and navigation flows
• Number of clicks and navigational telemetry

These entries are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable. The purpose of this information is for analyzing trends, administering the site, tracking users' movement around the website, and gathering broad demographic information for aggregate administrative use.

C. Client-Side Browser Storage (HTML5 LocalStorage)

To ensure instantaneous load times, uninterrupted play during network disconnection, and maximum privacy, iLoveSudoku stores the majority of game-related state exclusively on your local client hardware via HTML5 localStorage and sessionStorage. This includes:

• Current puzzle grid numbers, pencil mark notes, and move history (undo/redo stacks)
• Difficulty preferences, high contrast/dark mode toggles, and audio effect settings
• Completed puzzle counts, win streaks, personal best completion times, and tournament scores

Important: This data resides exclusively inside your personal browser sandbox. iLoveSudoku servers do not ingest, upload, or sell your local puzzle save states. You can clear this data at any time via your browser's "Clear Browsing Data / Local Storage" menu or the in-game Reset feature.

3. Cookies and Web Beacons

Like any modern web property, iLoveSudoku uses "cookies". Cookies are small text files placed on your device to store information including visitors' preferences and the pages on the website that the visitor accessed or visited. The information is used to optimize the users' experience by customizing our web page content based on visitors' browser type and/or other information.

You can choose to disable cookies through your individual browser options. Detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective official websites.

4. Google DoubleClick DART Cookie & Google AdSense

Google is one of our third-party advertising partners on our site. Google uses cookies, specifically known as DART cookies, to serve advertisements to our site visitors based on their visit to ilovesudoku.net and other sites on the internet.

• Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to our users based on their visits to our site and/or other sites across the World Wide Web.
• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to this website or other websites.
• Visitors may opt out of the use of the DART cookie and personalized advertising by visiting the official Google Ads Settings page at: https://myadcenter.google.com/.
• Alternatively, you can opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) opt-out page at https://optout.networkadvertising.org/ or the Digital Advertising Alliance at https://aboutads.info/choices/.

5. Advertising Partners & Third-Party Privacy Policies

Some advertisers on our site may use cookies and web beacons. Our primary advertising partner is Google AdSense. Third-party ad servers or ad networks use technologies like cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons that are used in their respective advertisements and links that appear on iLoveSudoku, which are sent directly to users' browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs.

These technologies are used to measure the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and/or to personalize the advertising content that you see on websites that you visit.

Please note that iLoveSudoku has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

iLoveSudoku's Privacy Policy does not apply to other advertisers or websites. Thus, we strongly advise you to consult the respective Privacy Policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information. It may include their practices and instructions about how to opt-out of certain options.

6. California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Privacy Rights

Under the CCPA, among other rights, California consumers have the right to:

• Right to Know: Request that a business that collects a consumer's personal data disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal data that a business has collected about consumers.
• Right to Deletion: Request that a business delete any personal data about the consumer that a business collected.
• Right to Opt-Out: Request that a business that sells or shares a consumer's personal data, not sell or share the consumer's personal data ("Do Not Sell My Personal Information").
• Right to Non-Discrimination: Enjoy equal service and pricing without discrimination for exercising your CCPA privacy rights.

If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact us immediately via our Contact Us Page.

7. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Rights

We want to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user residing in the European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom is entitled to the following:

• The right to access: You have the right to request copies of your personal data. We may charge you a small fee for this service if requests are unfounded or excessive.
• The right to rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that we complete the information you believe is incomplete.
• The right to erasure: You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
• The right to restrict processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
• The right to object to processing: You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
• The right to data portability: You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.

If you make a request, we have one calendar month to provide an initial response. To exercise any of these rights, please reach out through our contact form.

8. Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)

Another core priority is adding protection for children while using the internet. We encourage parents, guardians, and educators to observe, participate in, and/or monitor and guide their online activity.

iLoveSudoku does not knowingly collect any Personal Identifiable Information from children under the age of 13. If you think that your child provided this kind of information on our website, we strongly encourage you to contact us immediately and we will use our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.

9. Data Security & Storage Integrity

We adopt appropriate, modern data collection, storage, and processing practices and security measures to protect against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction of any communication data exchanged with our site. Communication between your browser and our servers is encrypted using standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) / Transport Layer Security (TLS) HTTPS protocols.

10. Updates to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect modifications in our operational procedures, legal mandates, or advertising network standards. We will notify you of any changes by posting the updated Privacy Policy on this URL and updating the "Last Updated" timestamp at the top of this document. Changes are effective immediately upon being published on this page.

11. Contact Information

If you have any questions, clarifications, suggestions, or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, please reach out to us at:

• Website: https://ilovesudoku.net/contact/
• Data Privacy Officer Email: privacy@ilovesudoku.net
• General Support Email: support@ilovesudoku.net